UKH

I'm in Chamonix 2-6 September and trying to find a guide for a couple of days to take me and a friend up some lower grade multi-pitch routes in the area (thinking Miroir d'argentine, Frison Roche, that sort of thing). I've climbed a few of that type of route, the friend has not done any mountain route / multipitch before but is strong on single pitch routes, so I'm taking my own advice from another thread to hire a guide. Unfort. the guides I've climbed with before are unavailable during these days.

Q1: The official Compagnie has a slightly poor reputation from what I have heard before: haughty vibes, little teaching and learning, focus on swift completion of the route. Is that fair these days or are we likely to have a great day out with them?

Q2: Are there any other paths to finding a good guide or good agencies? An 'Uber' for guides? Have always operated on word of mouth before.

Q3: Is anyone a guide and free for a couple of those days?!

Ben is excellent. If he is not free I'm sure he will know of someone who is:

https://www.chamonix.net/english/generic/Ben-Bradford-High-Mountain-Guide/1...

James is brilliant, you'll have a great day out with him. No idea if he'll be available though.

https://www.jamesclaphamguiding.com/

The BMG website has all of the current British Mountain Guides listed and you can contact them through there. It also has a find a guide feature that lets you contact all the guides who do the type of trip you are after.

https://www.bmg.org.uk/

Kevin Avery who is www.truenorthalpine.com may be able to help. Lovely guy and a great guide who moves at your pace whilst quietly, and safely pushing your personal limits. 

Thank you everyone for these recommendations! Various emails sent out.

And nobody nibbled at saying mean things about the French Compagnie, good to see...

If your friend is competent on single pitch and you have done multi-pitch climbs before then Frisson Roche would be easy to do without a guide. Its fully bolted (if you were feeling nervous on the steep crack/corner its easy to place a little gear to supplement the bolts) with easy access (a downhill walk from the station although need to check when the lifts close). There are plenty of routes on the Aiguille Rouge side of the valley which you could get on very easily and provide very low commitment mountain routes without any glaciated terrain to give you and your friend experience.

Obviously if you feel like you need a guide then its the right decision but maybe worth a thought...

Sean

Looks like you have plenty of recommendations already but Will Harris and Tamsin Gay are both excellent humans.

https://willharrisguiding.com

https://www.gayguiding.com